OF A RANCHMAN 13 



grazing country, brought stock out by the 

 railroad, and the short-horned beasts became 

 almost as plenty as the wilder-looking south- 

 ern steers. At the present time, indeed, the 

 cattle of these northern ranges show more 

 short-horn than long-horn blood. 



Cattle-raising on the plains, as now carried 

 on, started in Texas, where the Americans 

 had learned it from the Mexicans whom they 

 dispossessed. It has only become a promi- 

 nent feature of Western life during the last 

 score of years. When the Civil War was 

 raging, there were hundreds of thousands of 

 bony, half wild steers and cows in Texas, 

 whose value had hitherto been' very slight ; 

 but toward the middle of the struggle they 

 became a most important source of food sup- 

 ply to both armies, and when the war had 

 ended, the profits of the business were widely 

 known and many men had gone into it. At 

 first the stock-raising was all done in Texas, 

 and the beef-steers, when ready for sale, 

 were annually driven north along what be- 

 came a regular cattle trail. Soon the men 



